


dust astray

by LadyPrince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 00:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18158777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyPrince/pseuds/LadyPrince
Summary: The forests surrounding Altea are mysterious; where people can safely travel on the pathways leading to the forests of the other kingdoms, and to the other kingdoms in general, the forest itself seems almost to repel the Alteans that wander into it. Anyone who gets lost in the woods come back, disorientated and confused, with their memories of what has happened over their duration in the forest absolutely gone. Yet from what little Shiro can gleam thanks to Olkarian texts, he finds himself endlessly fascinated with what the forests surrounding Altea could contain.So despite Pidge's [very brief] warning, he decides to go exploring the forests.Let it be known that Takashi Shirogane isn't always the brightest when it comes to satisfying his curiosity.





	dust astray

There is no entity, Shiro thinks, as mysterious as the forest that surrounds the castle of Kingdom Altea. The Olkari kingdom finds the forest extremely interesting, consider it an area of magical study, and are able to go in and out of the forest with less trouble than Alteans. It is with their ease of travel that Shiro has had the blessing of being able to read some of the simpler, more basic, Altean-translated books that the Olkarians have written about the still unnamed forest.

Magic flows through every single living being inside of the forest, flickering on the thin leaves of the trees, glowing in the crystalline bodies of the creatures and insects there, and Shiro has always been so endlessly fascinated by the creatures of starlight that roam in the forest around Altea. “I don’t think you should go out there,” Pidge says to him one day after she comes back from a trip to the Olkari kingdom, hands full with books in their flowing and rhythmic language, “the professors keep telling me that the forests are way too dangerous for us right now.”

“We travel through the paths,” Shiro says, “it can’t be that bad.” Pidge shakes her head at him, adjusts her glasses, then looks away from him to instead stare out a window. “I won’t even be in the forest long, promise. I’ll just be there at ten minutes at best, and I’ll be right next to the pathways.”

She stares at him. He looks back at her with a cool, steady gaze. “I’ll be fine. Just some runes of protection and I’ll be safe, right?”

Pidge shakes her head. “If queen Allura ever learns about what you’re going to do…” Pidge says, but she opens her book, turns around, and leaves the room as she reads the new piece of academia that she has gotten. “You can’t say I didn’t warn you, though.” are her departing words, and now Shiro is left to do whatever it is that he wishes to do with the forest that people of Altea are strictly warned [and near forbidden] from venturing into.

Sometimes, curiosity will end up being the bane of Shiro’s life as he knows it. What is meant to be just a ten minute wandering around in the bits of shrubbery and trees skirting along the pathway turns into Shiro getting lost in the bowels of the forest and his magic unable to find a way back out of the forest.

Let it be known that Takashi Shirogane is not the brightest person at times when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge, second only to Pidge’s insatiable desire to find answers at the expense of everyone and everything around her.

He feels that this is the fourth time that he has walked in circles around this tree, having seen the same old, faded rune on the bark, and Shiro inhales deeply to try and cool his head. He runs his hands through his hair, the leather of his gloves scratching unpleasantly against his scalp, and he exhales slowly. Inhale and exhale, in and out - people have gotten lost in the forest before and have come back, often times more disoriented and confused when they stumble back into the castle. They never speak of what they have seen in the forest.

Which means Shiro has reference on that the forest is escapable, but no thorough precedent to tell him how to get away. He can hear a more dissonant cry of what he thinks is a cicada, hears the trilling cries of some sort of bird, and a howl of a territorial creature nearby - a creature he cannot afford to run into now. Yet when he treks deeper into the foliage and stumbles back out towards the same tree, Shiro is on the verge of screaming that not even breathing exercises can calm him down.

He walks over the tree and slams his prosthetic, runic fist into the faded mark on the bark before he then sighs, presses his forehead into the bark, and then turns around so that he is sliding down the tree and into a sitting position. He stares up at the sky through the maze of branches overhead, the rays of light filtering in few and far between yet their warmth welcoming.

This has been a mistake. He can bet Pidge is both extremely concerned and overly smug from how right she is, how she is always right, and Shiro runs his hand down his face. He is a damnable moron who is now trapped in a forest that seems unwilling to let him out of this circular Hell, and he can’t muster up the energy to try – for a sixth time – and get out of this grove. Ennui creeps up within moments of him resigning himself to his fate and he curls his hands up into fists on the dirt beneath him, digging the nails of his hand and the fingers of his prosthetic into the ground.

Fatigue fogs his mind, a suddenness that makes his head spin for a second before a powerful exhaustion takes over, and Shiro slumps. Something in the back of his head screams at him that this isn’t natural, that he isn’t even that tired, he hasn’t been awake that long -

But he cannot stop the fluttering of his eyes, the desire to just sleep and forget all his troubles. Before he succumbs to the weariness dragging down his bones, he is able to see a blurry shape of a person standing over him - and then darkness drags a veil over his vision.

 

 

 

“No!” Shiro gasps out as he jolts awake, his body jerking up into sitting up, and he pants as he takes a look around his surroundings. He winces, a hand settling on his head, and he blinks his eyes rapidly to try and get rid of the blurriness of sleep and he flinches when the world sharpens into a foreign area.

It isn’t the forest anymore, at least - not the same damn tree to greet him again for the sixth time, but it isn’t any place he recognizes. It is a wood cabin at the very least - logs settle upon each other uniformly, a dresser across visible him with many little potted plants sitting atop of it, and Shiro tilts his head. The plants aren’t anything he recognizes, all of them glowing bright and looking otherworldly and like stars made plantlike, so he finds it safe to assume that they are specifically from the forest.

As he looks around some more it doesn’t take long for him to notice that there are a lot of potted plants, hanging or otherwise, in the room. Soft pinks, blues, purples, and whites all decorate this room, with some flowers growing so long that they creep like vines across the wooden walls. He inhales deeply, focusing on the smell this time, and his eyebrows rise up minutely at the earthy smell in the room. It isn’t unpleasant, but he can’t really pick apart any specific fragrances, and he wonders if these plants just do not have any smells or if they haven’t gotten to the point out where they release their perfumes.

He sees his cape hanging from a little rack when he looks to his left, his boots settling underneath said cape, and Shiro pats at himself and sighs with relief. His vest, tunic, and breeches are still on, and it seems that whoever who has brought him here has only been interested in making him a tad more comfortable.

Speaking of – is he alone in this cabin? Deciding that he simply cannot just lay in bed for the rest of the day, especially when he doesn’t know what time of day it is now, Shiro finally wills himself to come to a stand. He slips off of the bed, opens the door to the bedroom, peeks out, and he lets out a soft “oh!” at the sight of someone else in the cabin.

Someone else decidedly very furry, to be precise. A yellow gaze meets his eyes, belonging to a bipedal being sat on a stool with purple fur all over their body and “hair” that is a darker shade than their fur. They look to be wearing leather hunting gear, reminding him of some of the rangers in the Royal Guard – though, it is only the barest of comparisons that can be brought between them. Where Allura and Lotor have both gone out with having their armourers to create the most beautiful and memorable, yet functional armour possible for the rangers, this person’s armour looks utilitarian.

It looks… brand new, almost. If it isn’t for the fact that he can see scratches upon it, from whatever it is that this person has been hunting or ran into, Shiro will not have blamed anyone for thinking that this person just wears this gear because they like how it looks.

What grabs Shiro’s attention, however, is the way their ears twitch like his cat, Starbiter, back home. He can’t help but drag his own gaze away from those intense, curious eyes to focus instead on his ears, watching them twitch before they straighten up in alarm, and Shiro coughs.

“Did you bring me here?” Shiro asks and the person raises a thick eyebrow. “Right. Of course you did.” he coughs again and clears his throat, pushes himself away from the door and into the living room, and stands up straight as he says, “thank you for your help. I am Takashi Shirogane, Holy Paladin and Captain of the Royal Guard of the Altean Kingdom. Might I get your name?”

The person just watches him, their shoulders hunching over and their legs spreading further apart. They open their mouth and - “why are Alteans always getting lost in Galra’s woods?”

That is not a name. That, Shiro thinks, is an accusation. “Well - I mean, we want to know what the forest’s like,” he tries to explain after a long drawn-out silence, where the other person just watches him inquisitively, “the Olkari -”

“ - are better at getting out of these woods than you Alteans are.” the person interrupts, making Shiro pause and say nothing in spite of their rudeness. They have met with the Olkari before? Why have the Olkari never mentioned them? “Still doesn’t answer my question. Why do you guys always get lost here? It’s ridiculous, and _annoying_.”

Shiro opens his mouth, then closes it. Opens it again with intent to retort then sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “If you tell me your name,” Shiro says after a few good moments of considering, “then I’ll answer your questions to best my ability.”

They grunt. “Keith.” is all they give as an answer and Shiro nods. “Shirogane,”

“People call me Shiro.” he suggests, “it’s easier.”

“Shiro,” Keith corrects, “answer my question.”

Well they certainly don’t beat around the bush to try and engage in small-talk. Not that Shiro thinks he can engage in small-talk without wanting to ask the millions of questions fluttering around as endless butterflies in his head. “The forest around Altea has always been the one thing that we haven’t been able to understand. Not even Olkari get it that well.”

Keith tilts their head, their eyes narrowing. “Better than Alteans.” Keith says sharply, almost snidely. “They can actually _get out_ of Galra’s woods.” this is the second time they have mentioned Galra. Is this the name of the forest? He makes a note to ask Pidge about that later. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be magical, too?”

“Alteans use holy magic.” Shiro presses his palms together as he answers, takes a few steps closer to Keith, and they visibly back up a bit more to put more distance between the two of them again. Shiro purses his lips but fights against all of his instincts screaming at him to placate them; Keith looks ready to bolt or fight back at any moment, and they seem irritable. Who is to say placation will work on them?

“Olkari used… used Earthly magic.” he continues on instead, as if he isn’t being treated like an enemy right now.

Oddly enough, Keith seems to relax at that. The tension practically melts away from their shoulders… and they tilt their head like a feline considering their new toy as they eye Shiro. “Holy magic won’t help you here.” Keith murmurs absentmindedly, their words almost easy to miss. “It’s actually kind of useless here. Makes you safer.”

“I wasn’t going to attack you.” he sounds a little too huffy at that and that makes Keith snort in amusement. He clears his throat again. “I mean it, I wasn’t thinking of attacking you, honest.” he raises his hands up in surrender and takes a step forward. Keith doesn’t budge, but they do just sit in wait. Another step; Keith’s ear twitches. He keeps at it until he is standing only three more steps away from them, his hands still raised up.

He eyes the armchair nearby, looks at Keith questioningly, and gets a shrug so he just takes that as a noncommittal yes and takes a seat.

“I’ll take you back to the pathway nearby to where you were,” Keith leans forward, looking far more nonchalant and at ease than before, then he is bending over to the side to grab at something. Shiro’s eyes zero in on the knife that he hasn’t taken notice of before as it is shown more prominently now, obscured somewhat by pouches, “and then you can never come back here again.”

“What if I don’t want to go back just yet?”

Keith pauses. Shiro pauses as well, eyes wide with surprise at the fact that he has even said that. Doing his best fish impression, Shiro looks up at Keith uselessly because he is pushing his luck. He knows it. They know it. Keith stares at him. “You do know you can’t really go anywhere with your holy magics, right?” the words are said slowly and followed with a pointed look his way.

Shiro purses his lips. “Yes, yes I know.” Keith eyes him skeptically. “But I can’t just leave when I’m finally in the forest,” he tries to argue, “I’m curious. _You’ve_ made me curious.”

“Ask the Olkari.” Keith barks out.

“I want to ask you.” he insists. “You live here, you know better than we all do. I won’t bother you for long, I swear, I just want to know something, anything about this place.”

“ _Ask the Olkari._ The woman I met said she’s going to write a book about this forest. Read her book instead.”

“But then won’t I be learning second-hand information?” Shiro is just digging himself deeper into his own grave, but something in him doesn’t want to just _leave._ Not yet. “I’m in the same room as someone who knows the woods here well, clearly!, and you - you could tell me something about some of the animals we Alteans managed to see only _once or twice._ The ones where Olkari are able to confirm but don’t know enough about.”

“They’ll learn -”

“From you! I want to learn from you! You’ve been doing this for years, right? You probably know a lot. I won’t do anything with that information, it’s just for me. I promise the Olkari’ll learn from you, and not me. Please.”

There is a growl that rumbles out from Keith’s chest, a glare on their face, but their ears are perked up and their facial muscles twitch and the glare evens out into a blank gaze. An expression he can’t really place resides on them for a good few moments before they reach into their pocket for something. When they bring their hand out, there seems to be some sort of dust on it.

“What’s that?”

They look at their hand. “Galra’s earth.” is the only thing he gets as something even vaguely an answer before Shiro is yelping and closing his eyes as Keith blows the dust all over him - it shimmers, tingles his skin, and then fades away.

When he opens his eyes again, it is to the sight of Keith looking satisfied with something. “Every time I send an Altean back,” their words are factual and almost uncaring, “my magic makes them forget meeting me or going into the forest. It’s just a way to keep this place from being understood.”

Shiro shifts uncomfortably, a frown tugging at his lips. “Are you making me forget you?” Keith shakes their head, “then what did you do?”

“Making sure you remember. I’m going to take you back now, because Alteans always freak when they’re in this forest too long. Aren’t you important, or something?”

Oh.

Oh, right. Allura.

_Oh, shit. Allura!_

“I have to return to the Queen!” his voice is a squawk and Keith… grins. The rest their chin on their palm, their claws gently rustling the fur on their cheek, and Shiro watches them with a bit of wonder. “Can you-”

“ - take you back? Yeah. Been doin’ that for centuries –” _centuries!?_  “ – let’s go get this over with; won’t take long.”

They let Shiro go back and grab his cape and boots, putting them back on, and when he heads back Keith is standing at the door at their full-height and his eyes widen at how tall they are. He hasn’t been paying attention to their height when Keith has been sitting down, and now Shiro has to tilt his head far back to be able to look into their eyes. “You didn’t bring a weapon with you when you came here, right?”

Shiro shakes his head. Keith rolls their eyes. “What if you ran into trouble?” they push the door open and Shiro just quietly walks after them. “Alteans and Olkarians don’t care about their own safety, do they?”

“I can’t speak on behalf of all of us or the Olkarians, but I mean… I had my magic to protect me if necessary, even though it… uh, turned out to be useless in the end.”  he clears his throat. There is a beat, then, “if I get lost in the woods again, will you find me?”

When Keith pulls some foliage aside and turns to face him, Shiro realizes that they both are already back at the pathway where he has wandered astray. He wants to ask how, but he swallows the question down. Keith hums. “Yeah, I’ll definitely find you again. All you gotta do is get lost. You Alteans are good at that.”

He takes a step out towards the pathway and when Shiro twists around Keith is gone, and the thick foliage has thinned out considerably. It is almost as if he has never stepped away from the pathway and gone into a magic forest at all.

There is no way this is the last time, however. His luck has allowed him the chance to get through Keith somehow, so he is definitely going to go back. He swears it.

[Though, maybe next time he will tell Allura what he is planning to do, because she is losing her mind at him and Lotor is just standing back and sipping tea while he watches his wife.

Worth it, though.]

**Author's Note:**

> [ Pillowfort. ](https://www.pillowfort.social/transistor) | [ Tumblr. ](https://transistories.tumblr.com/) | [Twitter.](https://twitter.com/EmptyHeartLover)


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